The present Invention relates to a pressure medium-activated linear drive system comprising at least one tubular hollow body arranged along a guide rail which is actuatable from either end of the hollow body with a liquid or gaseous pressure medium and which is made of a flexible cross-linked or thermoplastic elastomer. The system further comprises at least one squeezing roller connected rotatably to a transport device that can be moved along the guide rail which squeezing roller presses the tubular hollow body against the guide rail or a counter roller.
Such linear drive systems are, for example, known from German documents 14 50 723, 27 18 528, and 28 16 546 in various embodiments. These known linear drive systems have the disadvantage that they are only suitable for a stationary rigid installation of their guide rail and an adaptation of the guide rail course entails considerable expenditures with respect to installation time and new parts.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an inexpensively producible pressure-medium-actuated linear drive system that easily allows for a variable installation and can be positioned in any selected horizontal and/or vertical curve.